Customer Reviews

Out of the Blue: Live & Discovery

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I never actually had an opportunity to see the Electric Light Orchestra in concert, the closest I got to that was watching a show broadcast on HBO back in 1978. I don't know if it's the same show contained here; my memory is a bit fuzzy regarding a 23 year old show. All I remember from that experience was how "cool" it was. As a 13 year old in the year of Star Wars, anything with a spaceship and lasers was all that mattered. The music was secondary. Of course, as I grew older, I paid more attention to music, and always had great appreciation for Jeff Lynne's contributions to popular music. And this DVD is a nice offering well worth its price. Now I knew when purchasing this, I would not get crystalline sound quality. After all, back in the 70's, there was no such thing as digital sound. But the sound quality in the Wembley show is actually very good, much better than some of the concerts released on DVD from the same era (Yes Live in Philadephia 1979 is one painful example of a bad one). It does sound like there are some "backing tracks" in the audio mix, but it is really nothing annoying given the quality of the performance. Picture quality does leave a bit to be desired; not much (if any) better than VHS, and with dated video production effects. But then again, this was the 70's! The real plus here is the full album length video for Discovery. This is almost like a two-for-one deal in just this section of the disc: a great album with very nice sound quality, and some enjoyable "performance" videos. This was a few years before MTV, when the promotion of an image was less important, and videos actually served to promote the music. Of course, the production is a bit "outdated" as well, but if you do get into some kind of "retro" mood, you might just find it enjoyable. Highly recommended if you enjoy ELO's music and want to see them captured at their peak. Well worth the purchase price and more.

I am a huge ELO fan and thoroughly enjoyed the concert (Out of the Blue) and music videos (Discovery Album). I gave this DVD 4 stars only because of the cinematography. With that said... this is definitely a must for any ELO fan and fans of music from the '70s.

For a concert from 1979, I found the sound quality very good. Don't buy this DVD if you are looking for a concert originally recorded digitally. It's from the '70's, when the only things digital were clocks!

I did however, find the cinematography POOR in parts. The director did not seem content on showing the concert, so he "added" special effects and layering. All he managed was to add distraction! I found myself yelling at the screen during "Rockaria!". Why he just didn't show the band playing is beyond me.

The music and performance make up for the directing bungle. The songs are great with a finale' that is second to none!

I wish their earlier concerts were available, even if the filming was poor and the sound was analog.

This video was a fantastic find for me. I always loved the "DISCOVERY" album and I thought as a bleary eyes 16 uear old in 1981 I saw on late night television a whole Video Album version of the album but never heard or saw it ever again so i always thought that maybe I had been dreaming until this DVD surfaced. The Wembley concert while not state of the art in quality compared to today's newer concerts is nonetheless fun to watch. Bev Bevan and Jeff Lynne at their peak. The Discovery videos are wonderful in their simplicity and the music is beautiful. if you have never heard this CD in it's entirity buy it the remastered version and listen to it...All I can say is that this is one of my favorite DVDs

I have been an ELO fan for years. I remember seeing clips of this on late night T.V. when I was young and just loving it. Now I can see the whole thing and it is just as awesome as I remember it.

We had fairly good seats in the second section back from the stage on the floor. This was ELO's first night at Wembley on the Out of the Blue tour way back in 1978. Fantastic show. Unbelievable excitement just being there.

I bought this DVD in the hopes of re-living the experience - but the sound is horrible.

Afro having freaks with bad teeth in white-magic satin robes and wizard mustaches rocking my bum-bum. They rock in a digital crystal cavern! They rock from within the single lens of a pair of cop sunglasses. THESE are the types of effects they should have used in Lord of The Rings!! Whoever thinks the visual effects on the videos in this are poor is a ding dong. Why? Because OF COURSE they look dated, thats the whole point! ELO was a liquid gold seventies trainwreck in full technicolor. Nobody does the seventies like ELO. This blew my mind when I saw it the other day.

If you want good picture and sound, skip this one. After watching this one for ten minutes I got a brain ache. The "Zoom Tour" DVD is much better than this one. It's in wide screen, and 5.1 sound. A real treat for the senses indeed.

I saw this same show live at Madison Square Garden back in '78. I was blown away to find out that it was filmed and available on DVD. It gave me chills to be able to re-live it. Naturally the sound quality isn't up to Eagles 'Hell Freezes Over' or Fleetwood Mac 'The Dance' but for true ELO fans, it is a must. It captures the era, the clothes, hair styles, etc. Given that it was done in 1978, I thought that it was great! I did notice that a lot of the music and background vocals were on pre-recorded tracks and not being sung live.....I didn't realize this when I saw them live.

ELO had great live shows! This DVD has some great stuff on it, but the quality does not live up to the potential. It really does not do ELO proud. I really wanted to love this CD.

Jeff Lynne is fabulous as always, but voice hindered a bit by back up vocals in band. This is nice to have in your collection for ELO/classic rock fans. The sound and picture need some remastering, but this is vintage footage w/great performance. I highly recommend the Zoom DVD between the two, simply because it's the greatest concert I've ever seen on DVD or in person, but this "Out of the Blue" DVD does give you a couple of different songs than that one like "Sweet Talkin' Woman", which sounded great. If you want to buy one, buy Zoom DVD, if you like ELO more than a little, buy both. You will be very pleased.